214 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 9, 1910. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, nf Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date June 20, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cot.ton : — 



Since our last report about 200 bags of AVest Indian 

 Sea Island cotton have been sold. These are chiefly comprised 

 of St. Cioix, 20(f. to 2 If/.; St, Vincent, 21d. to 2M; and 

 a considerable quantity of Superior Stains at ]5d. to I6d. 



Owing to the recent fall in other growths of cotton, 

 spinners are showing less dispo>ition to purchase. Crop 

 advices from America .state that the Sea Island crop there is 

 rather backward, and that rain is needed. 



The report of Messrs. Henry \V. Froso & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending .June 11, is as follows: — 



There has been some demand this week on account of 

 the Northern mills, resulting in sales of two planters' crop 

 lots, viz , 100 bales Coosaw, five bales Wave, on private 

 term.s. The factors continue to hold the remaining crops in 

 stock at 40c. to 50c., thinking that the limited supply left 

 unsold will be required by the trade before the next crop 

 comes to market. 



COTTON-GROWING IN THE FRENCH 

 COLONIES. 

 During the year 1908, the industry made substantial 

 progress in spile of some unexpected reverses. In Dnhoniey 

 and in Senegal and Xiger, the season was exceptionally dry, 

 whilst in Algeria, the crop was considerably reduced by the 

 attack of locusts. The total production of the colonies 

 exceeded that of 1907 by only about 7 tons, but there are no 

 grounds for discouragement, since decided progress was made 

 everywhere except in West Afiica. The apprnxiniate quanti- 

 ties of ginned cotton produced in 1 907 and 1908 are ciinipared 

 in the following table : — 



Total 



302,500 378,050 



(The lUilhtiii <,f tht Jmptrial Iiistitutt, Vol. VIII, p. 10.) 



COTTON LINTERS FOR PAPER-MAKING. 



The Muiithli/ Consular and Trade Repirrtu, for 

 February 1910, gives the following quotation from the 

 Paper ^falrr and Britisli Trade Journal concerning 

 a machine. known as the Minck and deSegundo machine, 

 which removes completely the linters, or fuzz from the 

 surface of cotton seed: — 



Those who have followed events will have noticed num- 

 erous patents taken out with the olijeet of utilizing cotton 

 for paper-making purposes, and the floating of companies for 

 this purpose. All attempts have proved failures, with a great 

 deal of waste of capital, up to the introduction of a complete 

 dry mechanical separation of the cotton fibre from the rest of 

 the niatej ial. When this came forward a few years ago, we 

 made a thorough investigation of the process in Germany, 

 since which time we have had a great deal to do with it. Cotton 

 seed hulls are now fed continuously, according to the patents 

 of Minck and de Segundo, to a machine which produces 

 a complete separation of the cntton. The fibres are auto- 

 matically plucked, as it w^re, from the epidermis or shell by 

 me:^ns of rapidly rotating arms of special construction. An 

 air-blast through the machine draws the fibres away, leaving 

 the hu.^k to discharge from underneath the inaehiiie, free from 

 cotton and in a condition available for cattle foods. 



The ordinary cottonseed hull-, which a few years ago 

 were regarded as being absolutely useless, became piled up 

 round the mills until .something had to be done to get rid of 

 tliem, and to get rid of them they were burned under the 

 boilers. As fuel they were only worth a few .shillings a ton. 

 Now, the position is being altered by the methods of dry 

 mechanical separation. The cotton that can now be com- 

 jiletely separated from the rest of the material becomes a valu- 

 able material in the manufacture of paper. It can be lioiled 

 and bleached very much in the ordinary way, and used for 

 the be.-t rag papers, for it is nothing more or less than pure, 

 virgin cotton. It reipiires little or no beating, as regards 

 the length of the fibre, for ii is already about the right 

 length. It requires beating, of course, in order to mellow 

 it down to make it work wet by bruising the fibres under 

 the roll. In the nature of things, it has a marked tendency 

 to work very free. 



The first-mentioned publication gives an abstract 

 of ailiiirional information that appeared in the article, 

 as follows: — 



The cotton-seed oil mills sell their cotton-seed meal under 

 standard guarantees of analy.sis, such as 55 [ler cent, protein 

 and fat. 8 per cent, ammonia, etc , but when the product 

 they are making runs higher than the minimum guarantee, 

 they do not get a bonus for this excess. In such cases, most 

 of the mill-', to cut this excess down to their sale ininiraum 



